S1, E96: Uplift for Her - Mallorie Cracroft

After fifteen years as a traditional OBGYN, Dr. Mallorie Cracroft found herself at a crossroads. Despite loving her patients and practice partners, she struggled with the impossible balance between career demands and family life. Exhausted from delivering babies all night, then falling asleep on the floor while caring for her own children, she constantly wondered: could medicine be practiced differently?

This deeply personal episode explores how Dr. Cracroft transformed her frustration into innovation by founding Uplift for Her, a groundbreaking clinic blending conventional and functional medicine approaches. Unlike the rushed 15-minute appointments and symptom-focused care that dominate healthcare today, her practice creates space for women to be truly heard, understood, and treated as whole individuals.

What emerges is a powerful critique of our current healthcare system, where insurance codes dictate care and doctors lack time to explore root causes of illness. Dr. Cracroft shares heartbreaking examples of patients whose life-altering symptoms were dismissed by multiple providers before finding validation and healing through her comprehensive approach. From treating unexplained fatigue and brain fog to addressing hormonal imbalances, she's helping women reclaim their vitality with remarkable results.

The conversation takes a particularly moving turn when Dr. Cracroft reveals how her sister's mysterious health struggles and her mother's dementia diagnosis deepened her commitment to functional medicine. These personal experiences fuel her mission to create healthcare experiences where women don't just survive but thrive.

Whether you're struggling with your own health concerns, caring for a loved one, or simply curious about the future of medicine, this episode offers both practical insights and renewed hope. Listen in and discover what's possible when doctors have the freedom to practice medicine the way it was meant to be practiced.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
What is up everybody and welcome back to another
episode of the Small Lake CityPodcast.
I am your host, eric Nielsen,and this week's guest is Dr
Mallory Craycroft.
Now, dr Craycroft spent nearly15 years of her career as an
OBGYN and founded her own cliniccalled Uplift for Her that is
based locally.
Now her clinic is different inthe way that it blends

(00:20):
conventional and functionalmedicine, creating a space where
women can feel truly listenedto, educated and empowered to
heal, with long, thoughtfulappointments and whole person
approach.
Uplift for her is redefiningwomen's care by treating the
root of the problem and not justnecessarily the symptoms.
Her mission is simple yetprofound help women understand,

(00:41):
engage with and trust theirbodies.
So we have a great conversationabout her career, how it led to
this moment and a lot of whatwas going on with her family's
health impacted her to startthis business alongside with her
husband, john.
So something for everyone inthis one.
Love talking with her.
She's a great person.
She hosts her own podcast aswell and just a great person to

(01:02):
converse with.
So're gonna love this one and,yeah, let's jump into it.
But, um, I'm excited for thisone because I always love like
small lake city moments thathappen, just like, naturally, in
the podcast, because I alwaysjoked about it when it started.
I mean, everybody who's fromhere knows the same small lake
city.
But, like, as they happen, I'vebecome almost desensitized to
it because I'm like, oh, ofcourse your therapist I worked

(01:25):
with a red robin, or of courseyou're the person we ended up
meeting up with dinner happensto be your long lost stepbrother
, who both of your parents havebeen telling each other to me
for two years.
So like, I'm like, yeah, thatmakes sense, like that's kind of
what happens.
But it was fun because I got,woke up one morning, had a text
from another number I didn'thave and it was hey, this is
john craigcroft.

(01:45):
Um, my wife runs this clinic.
One of our marketing peoplementioned the podcast, looked it
up recognize your name,recognize you were friends with
my younger brother.
I got his number from you.
So, hey, but like, got, got itand then follow it through.
Yeah, let's buy your web and soit was fun to hear and then like
, but then also on top of it,when I was asking I mean,

(02:08):
anybody who comes to me, I'llusually test it with a couple
people be like, hey, like yeahwhat about this person?
and there's some people likelike hard now.
I'm like like details, likedon't want to don't know expand
what.
Hard now I'm like okay, but itwas fun because even when I was
first chatting with john onvideo, I was like side texting
Kirsten because you mentionedyou knew her and you all knew
each other.
I was like thoughts and she'slike absolutely, oh, good, 100%,

(02:30):
because the history of theCraycroft family is like kind of
insane with my family.
So John's mom, yourmother-in-law, works with my
mother who's a pediatrician atBriner Clinic.
I mean my mom's entire careercareer, but this would have been
, I mean, early 90s, and sonaturally she's like, oh, we

(02:50):
have sons about the same age,cool, they can hang out.
So it always go to their housebehind bonneville and that'd be
like awesome.
It's like one of those like, oh, I could go to a friend's house
over there, like, yeah, thatfar outside of the neighborhood.
But I was joking with john, wewere talking that for some
reason that kitchen is thememory I first have of having
like a stack of pancakes and Ijust remember like we had a

(03:12):
sleepover.
Uh, because there's a treehouse in the backyard.
Am I making that?
Okay, yes, because I remember,like hanging out there all the
time we had a sleepover, wake upand I can't remember if it was
your mother-in-law orfather-in-law.
That's like, oh, I madepancakes and it was like a stack
of like five pancakes.
I'm just like, are you kidding?
Like this is an option.
It was just got like dishedonce, like eat it then next, or
I guess I was a big ego kid too.

Speaker 2 (03:33):
So Core memory stack of pancakes Stack of pancakes.

Speaker 1 (03:37):
It was an emotional connection.

Speaker 2 (03:38):
Yeah, apparently yeah .

Speaker 1 (03:39):
But no, no.
So I'm excited to have youbecause I also want to hear more
of the story, because I mean,john told me some of it but I
want to explore more myself.
But I mean, before we kind ofjump into that, I mean, are you
like, born and raised Salt Lake?
I mean, what brought you?

Speaker 2 (03:52):
here, no, so I'm a Seattle girl.
What part Federal way.

Speaker 1 (03:56):
Oh, okay.
A little bit of the ghetto, butit wasn't the ghetto there, but
it is now, which is also whereParker went on his yeah exactly
he's using the film area.

Speaker 2 (04:05):
Yeah, exactly, yeah.
So I was actually born inWyoming but raised in Seattle
and then left for school, wentback for medical school and then
ended up here for residency andthen met John and got married.
Yeah, back and forth fromSeattle to Utah.

Speaker 1 (04:19):
Interesting.
Yeah, I mean it's always funnywhen, like because I appreciate
people who have like a breadthof experiences Like, oh, I
traveled the world and decidedto end up in Salt Lake, but it's
almost like this All right,we'll go to Utah.
Yeah, we'll go back here.
Yeah, we'll go to Utah.
Yeah, we'll come back here.
But I mean, were you alwayspretty much around like the
Seattle area up there?
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (04:36):
Okay, yeah, yeah, I was just in downtown Seattle for
a handful of years.

Speaker 1 (04:43):
At UW.
Yep, yeah, I used to live onlike Capitol Hill, like one
train stop away now.
Yeah, that was such a fun time.

Speaker 2 (04:51):
Yeah, I was more in the U District, but it was a
crazy time.
Yes, yeah, mostly.
I mean it was med school, so Ican't say it was like out on the
town much.

Speaker 1 (05:05):
Oh, I mean everybody.
It's fun now in life to seelike how everybody's had those
and being like what's calledprofessional experiences or like
educational experiences to getto their career like ever.
Like I'm 34, almost 35, andeveryone's like, okay, I've done
all the things, I've starteddoing it for enough time that I
kind of have an idea of whateverybody does generally yeah or
it's kind of fun to be like oh,I'd like my decision actually
looking, actually looking ateverybody Like we're good.

Speaker 2 (05:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (05:23):
And then there's someone like you know, good,
good job, yeah, but it was funbeing up there because, like, I
went to the University of Utahbut it was fun to go see like,
oh, here's what, like not goingto be my forever home.

Speaker 2 (05:51):
But we still love visiting.
I still have family up thereand every time we go up there I
tell John like we should maybemove up here.
And then we're like oh yeah, no, no rain dark cold.

Speaker 1 (06:01):
I mean, if you go Summer, summer is the time to go
early fall.
Yes, summer is my dream,because I still have a bunch of
family in like portland area,yeah, and so I'll go visit them
yeah, the water and the beach,and I mean there are some really
special areas up there, yeah soso you go to school here, you
go to med school at udah.
I mean, talk to me throughabout your plans then.

(06:23):
Did you know you wanted to bean ob-YN, or were you still
exploring things?
What was your head up?

Speaker 2 (06:28):
No, I started med school thinking I would be a
pediatrician.
You know, like everyone loveskids and it took me about three
days of my rotation onpediatrics before I was like no,
this is like veterinarianmedicine.
Like you just look at them andthey're like crying and you're
like what's wrong with you andthey don't tell you.
So I that was a pretty quick nofor me, which is surprising.

(06:48):
I was really naive, I didn'thave a lot of experience in
medicine, but that was realquick.
And so then we just had to gothrough scheduled rotations and
the rotation that I got put inwas OBGYN and, again, pretty
naive at that point.
I was pretty young,no-transcript get a good breath.

(07:35):
So I was.
I was pretty hooked right offthe bat.

Speaker 1 (07:37):
Yeah, I see how that could be, cause, like that's,
when I was growing up, my momwould do rotations at primary
children's in the newborn ICUand I loved it because I'd be
like, oh, mom, I'm going withyou, because she got like a
hotel room is what I called it.
It was really just like ashitty bed and like a TV, but I

(07:58):
knew that I got to go get a hotdog at the cafeteria and usually
like some chips or somethingand like she had like the
vouchers.
So she's like, yeah, getwhatever you want, like it's
fine.
And then in the morning I gotto get a chocolate chocolate
donut on the way out, so and Igot to just sit in a bed and
like watch tv and we didn't havetv at home, so I was just like
stoked out of my mind, yeah.
But then, like the older I gotand reflected on that.
I was like what was?
Like you wanted to just sit ina hospital, like you psycho.

(08:20):
And then like thinking abouthow people work and spend their
time.
Like I've learned I do not wantanything to do with children.
Like I love my nieces, mynephews, my friends, kids, but
like a general child, like pass,I'm good.
Yeah, like I don't need this,like I'm not, I'm not going to
oodle over your kid, I'm notgoing to go.
Try to be best friends withyour toddler, like I'm good.

Speaker 2 (08:39):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (08:39):
They don't probably want to hang out with me either.

Speaker 2 (08:40):
I wouldn't Takes a different skill set.
Yeah, for sure, yeah.

Speaker 1 (08:43):
And so I imagine you're like, okay, I want to do
this, get an experience.
You're like, wait, wait, we'reon the positive side.
Cause like that's why I didn'twant to do medicine.
Cause hearing my mom, stepdadwe're both pediatricians at
Browder Clinic um talk abouttheir days and the things that
they had to deal with have yeahand like being around that all

(09:04):
day like no, but then thinkingabout, oh my gosh, I'm so
excited for my baby's, my firstone, or there's this, and like
obviously there's a whole otherspectrum of bad things that can
happen in news and people oh forsure.

Speaker 2 (09:13):
I mean it's the best of the best and the worst of the
worst, and that was the partthat I mean, that was the part
that hooked me was the best ofthe best.
But once you start doing it andyou realize that you play a
role, a pretty pivotal role, insomeone's worst day ever, like
that becomes pretty special aswell, I mean kind of sacred
really, because you're you're inthat moment where they never,
they'll never be able to forgetthat moment, but they'll want to

(09:36):
and you get to help maybesoften it and and smooth that
transition for them and andmaybe just make it that much
easier.
So that becomes that.
That's why I stayed in it.
Um, I mean, I stayed in it forlots of reasons, but that was
pretty special to realize thatyeah, I mean especially, I mean
trauma bonding, for you knownuance, but not quite the same.

Speaker 1 (09:56):
But there's like such like specific experiences that
I mean as hard as they are, likethere was someone with you
through it all and yeah, likethere's a camaraderie in that,
um, just like shared experience,which I mean if it didn't have
to happen, great, but at least agood relationship could come
out of it yeah exactly I wastrying to find like the silver,
like linings and bad things.
Sure, there's been.

(10:16):
I mean, stuff in my life hasbeen going on recently and I
always try to sign.
I mean, if it's I meansomething shitty, is someone
passing away your family, likethere's always something good
you can look at.
It's been so amazing to see, um, how much things can bring
people together and like when Imean it's like, I mean weddings,
it's funerals, it's all ofthese things where you can come
and be like, oh my gosh, we'recelebrating something, like

(10:37):
there's a reason that brings ustogether.
We all are here to celebrate andmove and like and celebrate
something, and then the end ofthe day, the party's over and
people can go back on to things.
But we all live such busy lives.
It's hard to see people we'relike, oh my gosh, I haven't seen
you.
Five years, seven years, 10years, like whatever that might
be, and so, although it can behard, there's always a silver
lining in it.

(10:57):
And so to be able to have thosebonds with those people, as bad
as it was, you can go give thema hug and they know that you
mean it.

Speaker 2 (11:02):
Totally yeah, exactly .

Speaker 1 (11:04):
So you graduate from UW, you flip-flop back to Salt
Lake.

Speaker 2 (11:08):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (11:08):
And so where's your residency?
Was it at I mean PrimaryChildren's with you?

Speaker 2 (11:12):
I actually did a year in Virginia randomly.
Oh yeah, and then transferredafter a year to Salt Lake, and
so I was mostly at theUniversity of Utah and at
Intermountain Cool.

Speaker 1 (11:23):
And talk to me about your experience.
I mean, because it's one thingto go where you're I mean again
like in school, or juniorresident, senior resident but
then it's like, all right, well,go be something, and this is
like what it really is like.
I mean, how much did that meetyour expectation, what it was
going to be like, versus theactual day-to-day of it all?

Speaker 2 (11:43):
Yeah, you know, I think some people have really
insightful ways of thinkingthrough things and making
decisions and I'm not thatperson.
So for me it was a lot of notreally having expectations and
not knowing what to expect.
And so when I started residencyI was just kind of bright-eyed,
bushy-tailed, ready to go andrealized like gosh, this is

(12:07):
intense.
And then, going out ofresidency, I lucked into a job
with Cottonwood OBGYN where Istayed for 10 years and
absolutely loved it, had thebest partners ever and really
just kind of learned as I wentabout how that transition would
be.
And I think that with residencyand with the transition into

(12:28):
that career, the people werewhat made it really incredible.
I have trained with and workedwith some truly incredible
people and that's the thing thatsticks with you.
I mean it was hard and it waslong and it's people asking you
to stay up for more hours thanyou should stay up and trying to
stay awake while you're doingthings and getting things done

(12:51):
and getting behind.
But it's just really intense inevery way.
But sort of you think throughlike would I do that again?
Like I don't know if I'd dothat again, but probably I would
, honestly, because you justlearn so much through it.
And you learn so much and youbecome so much through it.

Speaker 1 (13:08):
So tons of growth opportunities.
I mean, growth is never easy,yeah, and we all want to be like
the best versions of ourselvestomorrow, but we don't realize
the journey in it all.
But then also like thosesupporting actors, it's the same
way that you are that personfor your patients who have had a
terrible time, but also that'salso everybody else behind the
scenes of like, hey, I need youto do this, or like, hey, we're

(13:28):
going to have to be here for aminute, or just having like that
was really hard, wasn't it?
Thank you for being there andbeing able to rely on each other
, because everyone in my familythat's worked in medicine has
had the same thing around them.

Speaker 2 (13:38):
Yeah, and it changes you.
You know, when you go throughthese really hard things with
other people, you change withthese people that you're with.
So it's a really it was areally neat time and also just
the number of experiences you'rehaving with patients, with
people.

Speaker 1 (13:52):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (13:53):
You know, because we were working such long hours in
residency and then in mypractice as an OBGYN.
I mean, you're seeing anywherefrom 20 to 40 patients a day,
especially in residency, whereyou're just going from one thing
to the next, to the next, andthose experiences add up and I

(14:15):
wish I had been better atdocumenting it because I don't
remember so many of them, but Ido remember so many of just
being a witness to someone'slife.
You know these life-alteringmoments for them.
Being a witness to someone'slife.
You know these life-alteringmoments for them and I think,
through babies that I helpeddeliver, who had, you know,
tumors or who had who were notgoing to survive past childbirth
, or the really healthy ones.
You know the families who werejust absolutely thrilled and had

(14:38):
been waiting for this for years, and the patients who didn't
survive.
And the patients who you know.
You meet them for five minutesin the emergency room during the
worst moment, the scariestmoment of their lives, and
you're thrown into it and aninstant, major part of their
story, like it is.
It's a crazy journey to havethat many human interactions in

(15:03):
such intense ways.

Speaker 1 (15:05):
And especially at moments of such vulnerability
for them.

Speaker 2 (15:08):
Exactly.

Speaker 1 (15:09):
Yeah, because even when, like my mom, so my mom's a
pediatrician, so when I was ababy, hypoglycemia.

Speaker 2 (15:15):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (15:16):
And so there's one time I went into a seizure when
I was probably like six, eightmonths old.
That's scary.
And my mom was kind of like ifyou weren't my child I would be
thinking you're having a seizureright now.
Next thing she knows she's atSt Mark's, like handing me to a
doctor that she'd worked withand like it was there for a
reason.
But it's like I like have tolet this go.
And in the same way of theseparents and patients that are

(15:36):
like hey, I've never met youbefore or we've been through
some like fun ultrasounds,conversations, like normal
doctor visits, but like there isno oh, hold on, let us think
about this.
Or oh, hold on, let's go getthis person.
Or it's like now or never, likethat's a very vulnerable time
to be there for people andcomfort them in that as well.

Speaker 2 (15:54):
Yeah, I think it's especially crazy as an OBGYN
maybe more than other fieldsbecause there's so much good and
so much hard all mixed up inone.
And so there are so manyexperiences that I can recall of
being in one patient's roomwhere they have just lost a baby
and I had to be the one to tellthem or I had to tell them

(16:16):
other bad news.
Take a deep breath, go into thenext room for this new patient
that just found out they'rehaving a baby, and you just have
to kind of flip on a dime andbe like, ok, hey,
congratulations.
You know, but you're storingall of this emotion and and then
you add to that your ownemotion.

(16:37):
We had a pregnancy loss yearsago and you know I went through
that on my own and then veryquickly returned to work and
again had to just kind of flipto patients who were happily
expecting and delivering theirbabies and just sort of
compartmentalizing like this isthis really hard thing that I'm
going through?
And when you show up in thatpatient's room not that they

(17:02):
don't care that you're goingthrough hard things, but it's
not relevant you know.
So just this, this it's justvery human, like it is the
ultimate example of living thehuman experiment right.
Like you have your own stuff,this person has their stuff,
this person has their stuff, andsome of it's good and some of
it's bad and and really honestly, at this point in my life I

(17:23):
don't know that I could havesaid this in the middle of it,
but I just feel like it's such aprivilege and such an honor to
be in it you know to be livingin this, in that experience but
that was probably has been thecraziest part of the career is
that flip-flopping back andforth?

Speaker 1 (17:40):
emotion, emotion.
I guess I never thought of itlike that of like there's these
kind of like, let's call it keyplaces, that where a lot of
these like life altering, likeemotionally both sides of the
spectrum tend to happen, and thehospital is one of them.
I mean, the same day thatsomeone's giving birth to a
child is the same day thatsomeone's probably going to die.

(18:00):
Let's say that someone foundout that their cancer is gone is
the same day someone getsdiagnosed.
Exactly, you have to go throughit all like one of my friends is
a emergency room doc in dallasand I was sitting there talking.
I was like I mean a fascinatedand if I'm curious I can talk to
someone about anything foreversure and I was just talking
about.
He's like, yeah, it's likereally hard when I have to sit
there and like tell someone thattheir child just passed away in

(18:21):
a car crash and they want tohear everything, they want all
the known details, like hey,listen, like I'm so sorry, but
what just happened I have to godo again.
There will be someone here, butI, I have to go yeah and just
like repeating that over andover, I was like are you okay?
He's?
Like no, not really.
I'm like understandable,because again, like every time,
you have to like code, switchbetween these emotions like it's

(18:41):
taxing, like it's not, likethere isn't like an emotional,
like pain or like backlog thathas, like that doesn't go along
with that.

Speaker 2 (18:49):
Yeah, and I think it's interesting because, from a
patient perspective, I'm alwaysvery sensitive about this
because, like I say, from thepatient's perspective,
everything that that doctor justwent through is a little bit
irrelevant to you, right?
You're there with your crisisor your important moment and and
of course, that's what mattersmost to you, right then, and it
should.
But at the same time, I dothink as a physician, it's a

(19:13):
tricky.
It's a tricky emotional,constant readjusting and I don't
know that people can appreciatethat when they're the ones
going through it, and I'm notasking them to, but you know,
everyone has a story of like Iwent to the ER and the ER doctor
was in there for two and a halfminutes, and then the ER doctor

(19:36):
was in there for two and a halfminutes and then bolted and
like I didn't get my questionsanswered.
They didn't even, you know,they didn't even tell me
anything.
They just told me I could gohome because I was fine and we
should do better than that asdoctors.
But it's also helpful tounderstand that what that doctor
I think sometimes people wouldthink that I'm like I'm
finishing with them and I'm likegoing to the break room and
putting my feet up and likehaving a cup of coffee and like

(20:00):
that's not what's happening inthe hospital ever.
You know that's.
You're on to the next patientand the next patient and you've
got 30 more patients to see andand it's it's.
There's no right or wrong, butI think it's helpful to
understand the whole mix ofwhat's going on.

Speaker 1 (20:15):
I think there's a reason where a lot of doctors in
a hospital wear running shoes.
Yeah, not just for comfort.

Speaker 2 (20:24):
No, literally.
I've run lots of miles in ahospital.

Speaker 1 (20:25):
So yeah, and I mean going back to the topic of, like
I mean people that are thereduring core times.
I mean walk me through how Johncame into the mix, because
obviously I mean him andstarting your family is a big
part of what you've decided tocreate.

Speaker 2 (20:36):
Yeah.
So John and I met on a blinddate, actually after I had
finished residency.
So he got to skip all of thehard stuff and he met me when I
had my job lined up and, in fact, our first date was on my
orientation day that we wentyeah.

(20:56):
So we met on that day and Istarted my job and when you
start a practice at least in mypractice you don't start ultra
full.
I had a few patients here andthere I was starting to have.
I had maybe two deliveries amonth.
You know I was deliveringbabies and had maybe two a month
or five a month, and so that'swhen we were dating.
So I think he got a sweeterversion of of what the life

(21:19):
would be like and I maybe Imaybe pulled the wool over his
eyes a little bit, but so westarted dating right at that
time that I was starting my job.
So he came into the picture alittle bit later in my career,
with the lightest it had everbeen, Right, I mean, I was an
overachiever in high school,overachiever in college, over
not overachiever, just justsurviving bad schools, yeah.

(21:41):
And then residency, and then Ihad this kind of lull for a
minute and that's when John cameinto the picture.
So we had lots of fun.
Yeah, and all sorts of hikingand biking and traveling and
doing lots of fun stuff.

Speaker 1 (21:53):
Which is such a good way to do it.
Yeah, so I'm dating someone andit's interesting comparing like
dating and courtship throughoutmy life Because I mean I got
married like just after collegework trip throughout my life.
Like because I mean I gotmarried like just after college
and I was like, as I reflect,I'm like, oh, it's such a nice
time because it's like college,like there's things to do, but
you're, you're not busy.
Yeah, like it's not like adultlife where you're like I have to

(22:14):
you think it is?
oh, yes, yeah and so it's niceto be like oh, like I can kind
of be there for that, likepretty much anything that
happens is like this experienceof life.
We can go, do, experiencewhatever.
And then, as I like I mean getdivorced and go back from the
dating, I'm like, oh, there'slike a whole piece of my life
that they can't see, or like weonly have so much time to
dedicate to someone, and likeit's so, it's, I'm jealous, you

(22:35):
had this time, like okay, likenot to say it's, it's cut and
dry.
It's like okay, like done next.
Hey, john, remember that onetime.
Yeah, let's chat again and beable to give it a little more
entertainment than if you wereat residency.
I mean, I've had friends bothsides of the residency side of
things and not easy at all.

Speaker 2 (22:53):
No, I don't know.
I mean I dated a little throughresidency but it was always like
so I'll be off work at, youknow, 8.30 tonight, but I do
have to be back at 4am tomorrow,so you want to hang out for a
half an hour, like you know.
So he did get it at a sweet spot.
But it was interesting becauseI think for a long time he we
would talk about what I did, buthe I don't know that, he fully

(23:18):
saw you know what I did.
He just knew I left and I cameback and we'd talk about it, but
not really being a part of itand that's with with starting
our new clinic.
He's there 24 seven, I meaninvolved in every bit of it that
I am.
So that's been fun for him toshare that a little bit more and
to see more of that medicalside of things, because

(23:39):
otherwise you have theseprofessions and, like you're,
this person you're very close toand eventually married to, you
really have no idea what they'respending their day doing, right
, you know what their day-to-dayis and what they're good at,
you know that.

Speaker 1 (23:49):
So that's been, that's been fun to see well, I
always love, like because I meanI dated and I mean I mean I
guess it goes for everybody inyour life, like what do you do
for work?
Like you don't ever actuallyknow what that is right.
And it wasn't until thepandemic where I was like
sitting next to my partner so Iwas like, oh, that's work you
yeah, okay, yeah, exactly, andthey see the same.
But then it's always funny, likeI always love going to like the

(24:11):
other person's company party,holly, hearty, whatever so I'm
like, all right, who are thecharacters for you?
That's the person who wouldn'tshut up during the meeting, like
this is the person that alwaysbugs you about this on friday
afternoons, like yeah, got it.
And then, thank gosh, it's sonice to meet you, so it's fun to
see that you guys get to havethis again, like this collective
experience together.

Speaker 2 (24:29):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (24:29):
But talk me through.
I mean, what motivated you todo it?
Because most people don't justI mean quit an OBGYN job to go
start something else.

Speaker 2 (24:37):
No, it was years in the making.
I loved my job, I loved what Idid, I had amazing patients and
really fantastic partners.
But as John and I had kids, wehad our first kid after, I think
, we'd been married for twoyears and instantly started
feeling that little bit of apull between your personal life
and your work life.
Right, I wanted to be home more, I wanted to be a mom, I wanted

(24:59):
to be present, and instead I'dbe up all night the night before
delivering babies, and then I'dbe off, so I'd be home with my
baby and I would fall asleep inthe middle of the floor, you
know, with my one-year-old kindof toddling around me, and wake
up like oh my gosh, is everyoneokay, you know.
So realizing like I'm not surethis balance is is quite what I

(25:20):
was thinking, or quite what Ianticipated, but but again, that
was.
That was two years in and Iworked for another eight.
So it was.
It ended up being every day, asI drove home from work, thinking
how can I do this differently?
How do I adjust this?
How can I, how can I changethis For myself?
Initially is how it started.
I think a lot of people who endup doing what I do in

(25:41):
functional medicine andintegrative healthcare.
They have these reallyinspiring stories based on like
healing journeys and mine wasdefinitely prompted more by like
a personal experience healingjourney of trying to figure out
how do I be the mom that I wantto be, how do I be the wife that
I want to be and how do I bethe partner and medical
professional that I want to bein what seems like an

(26:03):
incompatible yeah mix butthere's also something so much
more.

Speaker 1 (26:07):
It's like both more profound and less profound,
because I mean everybody hasthose places that their brain
goes when everything else kindof stopped.
I mean like if it's supernegative and you can't be alone,
then that's a whole notherthing, but like, there's things
of like, because everybody has alife that they want to live,
that's within reason, that'slike quote attainable.
Or they have these ideas intheir head of oh well, I, I'd

(26:28):
love to do this, or maybe it'dbe fun at some point, or what
would that look like?
we always have these mentalblocks, but I'm not qualified, I
can't do it yeah which is a lotof, I mean just cognitive
dissonance, um and just I meanreliving a lot of what you've
told yourself that you are.
But there's this part where Imean most people I mean it's
probably the sharpest drop offof it all is being like I could
never start yeah and so, while Imean you didn't have to have

(26:49):
this, like well, when I wasdelivering the 50th baby of the
day at three in the morning,every like, whatever that could
be, yeah, like that's not asrelatable to as many people as,
like I just wanted a better lifethat I could be, there as a mom
, I can keep doing and providinga service to the people that
I've served for so long.
Side quest also get to work withmy husband and then also being

(27:11):
able to I mean again, I put thisall together in a different way
, like I was at a concert onceand I don't know why it hit me
like a freaking Mike Tyson righthook, but it was like the
purpose of life Well, notpurpose of life, let's not go
down that stupid road but like.
My definition of like, whathappiness is, is being able to
like, make a picture, paint apicture of what you want your

(27:32):
perfect life to be, and again,like.
That takes exploration of like.
Oh well, this is actually whatI want, this is what I need,
which is a whole pre-work ofexploration, self-discovery,
awareness, and then so you'd beable to create this painting,
but then being able to putyourself in it.

Speaker 2 (27:47):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (27:47):
Meaning you can execute on these things, you can
make these all a reality to thepoint where you can look around
and be like, oh, I do get to bea mom again and I don't have to
be going to bed at 4.30 in themorning and be back at noon and
breathe.

Speaker 2 (28:01):
Yeah, that's exactly it and that's exactly, still,
I'd say, what I'm going for, andI'm not there yet, but
hopefully getting there.

Speaker 1 (28:08):
It's also a journey, not a destination.

Speaker 2 (28:09):
Well, sure, sure it's a journey, but it's also it's
been a really tricky struggle tofigure out or tension, I would
say.
To figure out, like, as adoctor, you've done all this
training and you're helpingpeople, you know, you are taught
, I would say, to feel like youowe it to a community.
You have an obligation now,with your knowledge set, to do

(28:30):
good things, and I agree withthat.
And yet there's the other partof me that's like what about me?
What about my life and my sideof it?
So that was always a reallytricky tension of like.
But I love what I do for mypatients.
I love my patients and I lovethat I do for my patients.
I love my patients and I lovethat I get to have a little bit
of influence on their experiencethat you know they're, even if

(28:51):
it's something that seems fairlyroutine, like having a baby I
mean, lots of people do it, soit seems routine in some ways
but for that person, having thatbaby that is one pivotal moment
in their life and I got to bethere and maybe influence it and
maybe make it just a little bitbetter for them, right, make
sure that they feel empowered,make sure that they feel like
their doctor's, listening tothem, make sure that they feel

(29:12):
safe, and that was very, veryspecial to me.
That was something that Ireally loved and took seriously,
and it came to a point where Irealized I don't know if that's
compatible with being the typeof mom that I wanted to be.
So it was every day going homefeeling like I was either
letting my kids down because Iwas neglecting them, or I was
letting my husband down becausehe had to pick up the slack, or

(29:34):
I was letting my partners downbecause they had to pick up my
slack at work, or I was lettingmy patients down because they
really wanted me to be there andI couldn't pull away from my
family.
So that was a rough and Icouldn't pull away from my
family, so that was a roughplace to be in.
You know, I loved everywherethat I was, and yet while I was
there I constantly felt guiltfor not being the other place.
So that was hard.

(29:56):
That was really emotionallytrying for many years

(30:27):
no-transcript should live, um,and so eventually came to this
conclusion of like something'sgot to give, like I'm going to
have to make a big shift, andthen that took a while to have
the courage to do that and toknow what to do.
And John was actually reallypivotal in that, because if he
hadn't been supportive, like, Icouldn't even have explored

(30:48):
anything.
But every step along the way itwas you know what if I do this?
And he was like, ok, yeah, wecan do that.
You know, I guess I understandwhat it feels like to have
family members who you don'tknow where else to go.
Right, these are people and thisis one of the things that makes
me so angry with the system,because so many doctors poo-poo
this entire world.
Stop going to those fakedoctors, stop talking about

(31:12):
herbs and stop talking about allthese other things.
But what I just want to shoutfrom the rooftops is most
patients have already gone theway of conventional medicine.
Pat patients are not skippingthat step.
They've gone to every doctorand so, as a family member to
and as a doctor, to watch familymembers go from doctor to

(31:34):
doctor to doctor and just notget answers over and over and
over, I identify with my familymore with the helplessness of
like I knew how to.
I wish I knew how to help you.
Yeah, um, and I'm I'm stilllearning and I've learned a ton.
And if I knew what I knew now,five years ago, ten years ago, I

(31:54):
think I could have maybe made adifference.
Um, so some some bittersweetthere, as life is right, like
things don't always line up asyou wish they would, that you,
you learned the perfect thing atthe perfect time for the
perfect person, but, but, um,still learning and still helping
as many people as I canhopefully not have that same

(32:15):
experience yeah, the more youlearn, the more you can help
other people I hope so hopefullyyou don't have the same ending,
because my so.
My dad passed away two yearsalmost years, two years ago,
from dementia yeah.

Speaker 1 (32:27):
It's not a fun one, but and he was a pediatric
neuropsychologist, so he, Iwasn't there, but apparently he
was at the doctor once and theywere like and he was like having
a very cognitive moment, likehey, by the way, you have
dementia.
He's like I don't want to dothis, and then all of a sudden,
just hey, what was your nameagain?

Speaker 2 (32:45):
Yeah, and I'm like, oh yeah, it's a rough one, it
doesn't play fair for sure.

Speaker 1 (32:52):
So me and my sisters pay a lot of attention to what's
going on.

Speaker 2 (32:55):
I'm sure, with your own health.
Yeah, all of us should.
I mean, we've had a cancerdeath in our family recently too
, and you don't want any of them?
You don't.
You don't want any of that.
We want to do whatever we can,and and again, that's not to say
like people made mistakes alongthe way and that's why they got
sick.
But we are learning more andmore and more and, and there's

(33:16):
more and more that we can do,and I'm excited for the way that
that medicine is going in thisway to say could we just support
our health better?
That medicine is going in thisway to say could we just support
our health better?
Should we help our bodies workbetter?

Speaker 1 (33:26):
Agreed.

Speaker 2 (33:27):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (33:28):
Agreed.

Speaker 2 (33:29):
So that was.
That was a huge gift to me tobe able to explore that without
having one more constraint on it, of like well, I would do this,
but my husband doesn't want meto, or something you know.

Speaker 1 (33:40):
So eventually came up with this idea of like I think
I've got to go Well so for awhile I started incorporating
that method of healthcare of,you know, taking more of a whole
person approach.
Yeah, walk me through like theperspective of everything you
put together.

Speaker 2 (33:56):
Yeah, so integrative medicine and functional medicine
and lifestyle medicine.
There's lots of these kind ofoffshoots and most of them are
going more towards, I would say,generally speaking, away from
pharmaceuticals, you know, awayfrom prescription medications.
There's nothing wrong withprescription medications.
I'm very glad we have them.
I still prescribe them all thetime.
But is there more we can do tosupport health better?
And is there more we can do toprevent disease and more we can

(34:19):
do to support the whole person?
Because, like I've just beentalking about my life and like
you say, like that's prettyrelatable, right, people will
have a physical ailment, butalso they have guilt, or also
they're juggling their family,or also they're juggling their
relationships.
You know, everyone is more of astory than the one medical
problem they go to the doctorwith.

Speaker 1 (34:39):
They're not just their chart.

Speaker 2 (34:40):
No, exactly.
And so as I started learningabout this side of medicine, I
was pretty mad because I waslike, why did I not learn this
Like I was?
You know, I think I was reallygood at what I did, and yet
there was this whole sectionthat I had never known about and
never thought about.
And so I was mad for a littlewhile and then tried to start

(35:02):
incorporating it into my regularpractice.
Was mad for a little while andthen tried to start
incorporating it into my regularpractice.
But there were insurancelimitations, there were time
limitations.
You know, I'd be going todeliver a baby and I'd be in the
middle of this deep, you know,trying to get the whole picture
from this woman who's sayingshe's tired and her hair's
falling out and she's depressed.
And I'm trying to, you know,get this whole picture and I'm
like I'm so sorry I got to go.
Can you come back in a week?

(35:23):
You know, like it's just, itwasn't, it wasn't working and
not everyone wants that.
Frankly, some people are prettyhappy to go to the doctor and
just get their prescription fortheir one little problem and
move on with their life, and Irespect that, I'm, I'm fine with
that.
But those people would come andI would try to dive in deeper

(35:56):
and some of them would look atme like I had two heads, you
know, like why are you askingall these questions?

Speaker 1 (36:01):
And it's like system that's built around the opposite
.
Well, I don't want to say theopposite.
Different needs, differentneeds.
Yeah, just different.
In general.
Yeah, exactly Because thehealthcare industry is just very
here's how it works.
Yeah, very cut and dry.
I mean everything is I meandown to the policies and
coverage and care is all writtendown to every structure around

(36:23):
um structure around it yeahwhich.
There's pros in it, there's consin it.
I mean, do we live in a countrythat over prescribes a lot of
things absolutely, and there'sso much more to be done?
There's like been a whole umfor good or for bad.
I guess it's neither iscompletely true of focus on that
yeah and like it's fun to seehow, like because I'm at this
point of life too where, like mypeople that I've seen become

(36:45):
like overweight, obese, I'm like, oh, that's how this happens.
And then I'm also at this pointwhere people who are in good
habits, they're probably goingto do them the rest of their
life.
People who are in bad habitsprobably going to do it the rest
of their life.
Going back to the point ofpeople I don't expect anybody to
change.
Yeah, yeah Well and I think abig part of that is in the
insurance model, because theinsurance model was built around
, and works pretty well around,disease state and medications.

(37:07):
Right, so you go to the doctor.

Speaker 2 (37:34):
The doctor gets paid for diagnosing you, for ordering
a test, for ordering a lab.
You get a label on your chartand then you get a prescription
that matches that label.
That's the way insurancesystems are built.
There's all sorts of codes,right Big coding systems to make
sure that everything getsapproved and authorized and paid
for.
If you try to go outside ofthat and say, but you've just

(37:56):
been through something reallyhard, you know you've just been
through the death of a familymember, You've just been through
a divorce, Like, do you thinkthat's affecting this?
There's no code for that.
You know there are some codesfor grief and things like that.
But generally speaking, like ifyou start trying to go outside
of the system and look at thewhole person and start to
connect dots, the system doesn'tsupport that very well and the

(38:18):
time structure, the traditionsthat our medical practice has
been built on, it's just, it'snot really built that way.
So it becomes really difficultto practice within that system.

Speaker 1 (38:28):
So you start the business, yeah, and I imagine
it's kind of like reminiscent ofyou're like, okay, graduate,
just started in my firstfull-time job.
But it's instead of like oh, Igot to go find patients.
Like, oh, I got to go findpatients, like I'm not just
hired here anymore.
And I'm sure it's a wholedifferent part, because it's
always fun to talk to people whoprofession whether it be
dentists, doctors, lawyers,whatever, like they know how to

(38:49):
practice law, they know how topractice medicine registry.
But then it's like okay, run abusiness or go figure out how to
like solve these problems thatpatients, just I mean kind of
showed up for lack of a betterterm and now it's like we got to
figure out how to make thiswork for the way that we need it
to.

Speaker 2 (39:03):
Yeah.
So there was there are lots ofkind of grassroots communities
of doctors who are feeling thesame way and and starting to do
different things, and so Ijoined those communities and
learned a lot during while I wasstill working and started to
feel like I maybe could do this.
And looking back, I think Ifelt overconfident because once

(39:24):
you start, you're like I don'tknow if I can do this.
And looking back, I think Ifelt overconfident Because once
you start, you're like I don'tknow if I can do this, you know
but.
But usually you're like startedafter like I can't go bad.
Well, that's exactly it.
Yeah, no, you're in it now.
You're doing this now.
So it's funny to look backbecause we started so tiny.
I mean, it was just me.
I didn't have a medicalassistant.
I mean I had a desk in thefront of my office and my

(39:45):
patients would come in and Iwould greet them and I would
take their vital signs and thenwe would move to another room
and I would do their visit andthen we'd come back and I would
check them out and I wouldanswer the phone.
And I'd get patients who werelike oh wait, I didn't expect
you to answer the phone and Iwas like yeah.

(40:11):
Can I talk to Dr Kroenig?
Yes, can I talk to yourreceptionist?
Yes, one sec.
How about the nurse Also?
Yeah, so it was sort of it was.
It was very odd.
Honestly, it was not what I hadexperienced before, but
patients understood and liked it.
You know they liked that Icould give them my time and and
were happy to do that, so I wasvery fortunate.
You know, when you startsomething like this, you really
don't have any clue.
There's no guarantees how it'sgoing to go, but I was um full

(40:32):
the day I opened, so amazingyeah, so it's been, and it's
been a wild ride ever since.

Speaker 1 (40:37):
So how long ago did you open?
Not quite three years, wow,still pretty new it's like new,
it's like past the point of likeokay, like the initial kind of
get things started isdissipating.
But then it's also like oh, nowwe just got to keep the engine
going.

Speaker 2 (40:51):
Yeah, part of things, but yeah exactly, and we're All
different problems, oh, totallydifferent problems.
We're growing really reallywell and happily, and that
brings its own set of trickythings, but things I'm grateful
for, yeah, I was thinking aboutwhen you were talking about kind
of this.

Speaker 1 (41:07):
I mean internal conflict you were having with, I
mean everything going on inyour life where on paper you're
like oh, like, oh, you're a wife, a mom, a doctor, and like you
don't feel like you can be anyof them, but at the same time,
like to go from like a doctor ingeneral is like I mean I and in
details they're one of the mostdepressed people in their

(41:29):
profession, but when you like,think about it.
I mean a lot of people look forand their job is purpose.
Are they making a difference?
Are they helping people, whichis objective or subjective, as
that could be, and like a doctortexts a lot of those.
Pretty well, also, come andhave it come back around in an
even more meaningful way, whereyou're like, hey, actually I

(41:50):
think I need to do something alittle different.

Speaker 2 (41:52):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (41:52):
Not just for my own like inner struggle, like this
isn't working and we need to dosomething better, but
everything's going against me.
And then have people be like,actually no, this is actually
what we want too.
Yeah, to see that validation.
So you still get the joys ofhelping people helping people
with babies that you've grown tolove and have this passion for
but then also do it in the waythat creates this harmony in
your life professionally.

(42:12):
But then you also get to havethis flexibility in your
personal life.
So this harmony between thingsof I would imagine and correct
me if I'm wrong or maybe it'sstill part of the journey of
going from there's discordancein my life.
I want to be all these things Ican't to now being like, oh,
it's kind of all coming togetherthe way I wanted it to.

Speaker 2 (42:29):
It's definitely still in progress.
It's getting more clear.
Some of that, I'm sure, is myown personal journey of the
mindset, work of when are youever satisfied, right?
The fact is, if you're going tohave a career and going to be a
wife and going to be a mom,there's going to be some
juggling and you have to decidewhat to weight where, like how

(42:52):
much weight do you put in eachcategory, and that's just tricky
.
That's just a con, a constantum moving target.
But but I'm getting closer to itand it's been really amazing,
just because it's a slower pacewith patients, you know, I was
seeing at least 25 to 30 on busydays 40 patients every day and

(43:13):
then delivering babies inbetween, and now I see maybe
eight-ish patients a day becausewe do long form visits where we
can really dive in andunderstand what they're going
through.
I get to know them a little bitbetter, they get to know me a
little bit better and theyreally are just the best group
of patients and they're very.
They've shown me a lot ofcompassion and a lot of care,

(43:39):
you know, and patience withunderstanding that I'm a human
and I think that comes frombeing outside of the model a
little bit, you know not beingpart of the machine that people
are used to.
You know you go to an office,you're a number on a board
somewhere and there's eightdoctors and again, I'm glad it
exists.
I go there too, but it's beenreally fun to do something
different and also even justbuilding the clinic and
recognizing like, oh, I can dowhatever I want here because no

(44:02):
one's telling me that I have todo it the sterile way, like I
can have color in my office andI can have warm fuzzies and I
can do it in a way that createsthe environment that is really
what I'm hoping to create forpatients that feels healing and
restorative.
So that's been really fun nomore fluorescent lights and yeah
, well, I mean, it's kind ofdirty walls and we still have

(44:24):
rattling HVAC.

Speaker 1 (44:25):
But yeah, you know, we're getting there journey, not
a destination yeah, that'sright, it's on the roll, but
also expecting.

Speaker 2 (44:32):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (44:33):
I threw the Hail Mary on that one.
I assumed as much becauseyou're far out.
That's dangerous.
Yeah, thankfully, the bestthing about a podcast is I can
edit it out if I need to.
You go on a rant and tear meapart for 10 minutes about how I
should.

Speaker 2 (44:53):
I'm like and select delete.

Speaker 1 (44:54):
Never happened yeah what number is this?
This is our fourth.
Wow, yeah, so that's, it was,there's always a couple
surprises in every family.
Yeah, like I always, when I wasprobably like 10 or 11, I look
at my mom, was like why arethere?
Like, why do they have two kidsso much younger than the other
four mom's?
Like, surprise, like, oh, like,once I learned about the birds
and bees, I was like got it.
Yeah, understood, yep, and sois it the first child since

(45:15):
starting the practice.

Speaker 2 (45:16):
Sort of.
So my last day of my lastpractice was the day before I
delivered my third.
So I worked up till thatdelivery and then delivered.
My third had a postpartum leavethat I then started opening, a
postpartum leave that I thenstarted opening.
I kind of built the practiceduring my postpartum leave and
then started that clinic whenshe was I think we started
seeing patients when she wasthree months, four months old.

(45:40):
Okay, yeah.

Speaker 1 (45:41):
Perfect.
Perfect for the example, then,but so, thinking about the last
pregnancy you had compared tothis one, how has this new
experience changed yourperspective on that?

Speaker 2 (45:49):
Oh, I don't know, everything's been different this
time.
I think I'm a little older andand a little more.
You know, we were reallyfocused on building the business
and kind of focused on gettingthis going, and so the pregnancy
has kind of forced us to shiftgears and slow down, and
probably in good ways, you know,probably in really good ways.
But the other one was, wastidier, I would say.

(46:12):
You know, this has been alittle bit more of a shake up,
but it's been good.
It's forced us to kind of wewere working on growing and it's
forced us to kind of growfaster because we needed to get
things done.
So I can have the support thatI need when, when I'm going to
be busy.

Speaker 1 (46:28):
Love that, yeah, and then oh yeah so you started the
office, the first one, just youat the desk and everything I
mean how many people are you upto now?

Speaker 2 (46:37):
So now we have a nurse practitioner and we have a
therapist, and then we have adietician and a health coach.
Wow, yeah.

Speaker 1 (46:45):
That's like all the stones on Thanos' glove.
You walk in and it's like allright, once you're done with one
door, go to the next, and thenit's going to be a while, but
you'll walk out feeling relieved.

Speaker 2 (46:59):
It's sort of the tricky part.
It was one of the things that Ireally envisioned when I first
started doing this is can wesupport women better, Like can
we help them by having people onthe same page?
And some of the things thatwere most important to me were,
like I said, the vibe and thisis one of the things that I get
really picky about with my staffis when patients come in.
It needs to feel different.
I have a lot of patients whohave basically PTSD from going

(47:21):
to the doctor and feelingunheard or feeling gaslit or
turned away or like they stillhave problems, and so it's one
of the things that we wanted tocreate in the culture of the
clinic is this is a safe spaceand we're going to stick with
you whatever you need, and sothat was sort of building that
from multiple different angleshas been has been really fun.
It's been really nice to makesure we're all speaking the same

(47:44):
language and using the samesupportive, optimistic approach
that I wanted.

Speaker 1 (47:48):
Yeah, I mean there's overlap between it all.

Speaker 2 (47:50):
Oh, for sure.

Speaker 1 (47:51):
So I'm sure it's fun to see everybody come together.
I mean, again, have like oneperson that you're all meeting
and being like.
All right, this is her holisticplan.
Yeah, exactly, the house is allgoing to come together.
Yeah, yeah, I love that.

Speaker 2 (48:03):
Yeah, it's been really fun.
We have a couple other peoplehopefully joining us soon too,
so we're on a mission Gonna fixwomen's healthcare.
The idea of gender disparity inhealthcare is it's really
fascinating and infuriating ifyou dig into it at all.
You know, when you look at whenresearchers were required to

(48:24):
include women in their studies,and even as recently as the past
five to 10 years, there arestill medications intended just
for women that have men in thepool of research subjects,
because it's easier, because mendon't have periods and men
don't have hormonal fluctuationsor menopause, and so they kind

(48:45):
of are the same all the time,and so it's.
It's really it's reallyinteresting to learn more about
that and and yeah, they, wedeserve a little bit better uh,
you know 100 agree, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (49:00):
Um anything else, y'all make sure, as I'm hit the
dry throat.
Um anything else, y'all makesure we cover um, johnny, have
you been listening?

Speaker 2 (49:09):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (49:10):
Anything else we missed.

Speaker 2 (49:14):
We could talk.
I mean, one of the things thatwould be nice to talk about too
is kind of the need for it.
It is in women's health care iswhy there is this need to kind
of address it differently,because so many women.
Do you want to ask me aquestion, or we just keep
talking?

Speaker 1 (49:30):
And they're doing it right basically right yeah,
doing it well exactly yeah, yeah, let's think of a question.
Um, I don't know, yeah, becauseI I mean like so, when you
opened, you mentioned that youhad a full book from the
beginning, which means there's aneed for it.

(49:51):
Talk to me about offerings andother places that essentially
drive people to look for asolution like yours.

Speaker 2 (49:57):
Yeah, it's been really interesting because when
I first opened and I would talkto people in the medical field
about what I was doing, a lot ofthe response that I get would
be oh yeah, I do that all thetime.
Like we're constantly talkingabout nutrition and movement and
exercise and and all of thosethings, and I know for a fact
they're not because I was there.
I was in it for 10, 15 years,you know, doing the same thing.

(50:21):
And there's no time.
There is no time to sit and aska woman you know, like give me
an idea of what you eat forbreakfast, lunch and dinner.
Right, give me an idea aboutwhat your daily schedule looks
like.
There's no time for that.
Maybe once in a while, but notas a routine, and so but when I
would, we'd be at soccer gameswith my kids and I'd run into,
I'd be talking to their moms andI'd tell them what they were

(50:41):
doing and their jaws would dropand be like this is so needed.
So that's been really fun tolike.
I knew there was a need, that'swhy I did it, but to see the
response has been reallygratifying to see women say like
gosh, this is so necessary.
And what's funny is how novelit feels, is it regularly is

(51:04):
what do you want to get fromthis visit?
Like, what's most important toyou from this and the things
that they say over and over andover are I just want someone to
listen to me.
I want to have a say in myhealth care, you know, I want to
be able to sit down withsomeone and not have them tell
me that I'm making it up Likewhere's our standard, why?

(51:27):
Why is that this, this bignovel thing that's so needed,
you know, but hugely gratifyingthat I get to do that, that that
I have patients come and be,like they come with their, their
defense systems up a little bitright, like they come saying,
listen, I'm here because I wanta new doctor, but here's what I
expect from this.
I expect you to listen and Iexpect you to, you know, not

(51:49):
gaslight me and for me to beable to be like well, of course,
that's what I'm going to do.
Like what else would I do?
You know like that's.
That's been really special tobe a part of that and to be able
to give that to women, and Iwish it wasn't novel.
You know, I wish that my clinicwas the norm and the rule
instead of the exception.
And again, I don't want to saythat, like, conventional medical
clinics are not doing thisbecause there are some really

(52:12):
wonderful doctors and medicalproviders out there, but as a
system, it is not what thesystem is built around.
You know, I got to sit anddesign my system based on the
needs of the patients.
Based on the needs of patientswho are coming in who don't feel
well, who can't find answers,who aren't getting the help they
need, who feel like theirdoctors aren't listening to them

(52:37):
.
I got to design the system 100%with that in mind.
Conventional medical systemsare designed 99% around
insurance models and CEOs, witha little bit of thought about
doctors and nurses, and then thepatients are really kind of the
last thing to consider in thatequation.
So it's been really wonderfulto see patients' experiences.

(53:00):
I'll have patients who come inand I do a big long
questionnaire at the beginningand ask them how do you feel?
What's going on?
And they'll write down theselists of 5, 10, 15 symptoms.
And these aren't just symptomsthat are kind of annoying, these
are symptoms that are affectingtheir lives.
You know, it takes me two hoursto fall asleep or I'm so tired
that, like I had a patient thisweek who said, yeah, my kids

(53:22):
keep saying, oh, our mom's thesleepy mom.
Like you might kind of chuckleat that, but as a mom, that's
heartbreaking, like that isdevastating to be.
Like my kids think I'm thesleepy mom because I can't get
out of bed and I have to take anap.
And so I'll have patients whohave these symptoms and to see

(53:42):
them number one, to see theeffort that they, like I ask
them to do hard things.
We're talking about nutritionand we're talking about how to
move and we're talking about howto get sleep and we're talking
about how to cut things out oftheir lives that are harming
their bodies.
And we're doing big fancytesting, you know, to see like
what is your body actuallytrying to tell us?

(54:03):
And then we're putting them onregimens to get better and they
do hard, hard things, do hard,hard things, and I get to watch
them go through it.
But at the end of it we doanother questionnaire.
You know, every visit that sayshow are you feeling?
And to see patients say likeall my symptoms are gone.
And I'll be like all of themBecause I'm going to go back to
the beginning and I'll gothrough it and be like how's
that fatigue going?
It went from two out of 10 tonine out of 10.

(54:25):
How's that brain fog going?
Because I documented at thebeginning you know it's two out
of ten or three out of ten, andI document their words, of them
saying like my work environmenthas gotten really stressful,
because I can't.
I'll be in the middle of apresentation and I can't
remember what I was talkingabout, or I'll write an email
and then I'll write the sameemail again and then my coworker

(54:45):
will be like you already toldme that and these are again,
like on the surface maybe notthat big of a deal, but for that
person that's kind of lifealtering, like it's embarrassing
and you're frustrated, you'reworried about what it might mean
, like is this getting worse?
And so I'll ask them that atthe first visit, you know, and
they say my cognitive awareness,my brain fog is like three out

(55:12):
of 10.
And then they'll come back andthey'll be like nine out of 10,
I feel sharp, I feel like I canthink, I feel like I can solve
my problems.
So I get patients who will tellme, you know, like my life is
different, like I am a differentperson now or, even more
importantly, like I got my lifeback.
Something happened in there andI was not the person I wanted to
be.
I did not feel how I wanted tofeel.
And I get you know all comers,people who are outdoorsy and
athletic, who are saying youknow, I used to be able to go go

(55:35):
hiking with my husband and nowhe wants to go hiking and I
can't go because I just don'tfeel good.
And that's again on the surface.
It's like, oh, poor baby.
But like as a person, as anindividual myself, I would hate
that.
Like that's a big deal to belike this was our thing and I
can't do it anymore.
And so as a as a physician, toget to help people through that

(55:56):
and to see them come back andsay I got it back, like I can do
that now, it's mind blowing.
Honestly, I'm not sure if I,like I hoped I would help people
, but I did not expect that.
Really, I don't think I couldhave really comprehended what
that would be like.

Speaker 1 (56:11):
Totally, I mean, especially when I mean like my
biggest parallels with likemental health of like yes.
I mean whenever I'm thinkingabout, like going through a time
where I'm like why isn't thisworking?

Speaker 2 (56:21):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (56:21):
Why can't like?
It's like I'm trying to shovethis like circle into a circle
hole.
I'm like why isn't it goingthrough?
Yeah, into a circle hole.
And like, why isn't it goingthrough?
Yeah, this doesn't make senseexactly.
And then it isn't untilsomeone's I mean ask a simple
question of like, oh, like, howlong does it take to go to sleep
?
Like 30 minutes.
But then it's like I'm gonnawake up like not like yeah, it's
like, oh, let's talk about that.
And it's like, oh well, yeah,you're.
I mean the myriad of thingsthat it could be like.

(56:43):
I never thought of that rightand then all of a sudden you're
like, oh, the thing that I justkind of got used to because they
happened so much, is now gone.
And now you get this mentallike, uh, bandwidth back because
, like you're not, either a likeit's not happening anymore, or
you're not worried about itanymore, it's not getting in the
way of life, or it's likeplaying an issue with your
confidence or your I mean justdaily agenda or how you're

(57:05):
perceived, and all of a sudden,like this potential you didn't
even know had, you've alwayswanted to have and seen in other
people or previously in yourlife, is like oh yeah, this is
who I am, yeah, that's.
I mean I can't imagine whatcloud nine of that feeling feels
like.

Speaker 2 (57:19):
Well, exactly, and and one of the things that I get
to tell patients in some formor another they'll be laying all
of this out for me and I cantell that in the back of their
mind, they're expecting me to belike I mean, you're probably
okay, though, right, likethey're expecting-.

Speaker 1 (57:34):
Because that's what they've been telling themselves.

Speaker 2 (57:35):
Yeah, exactly, and it takes a lot for them to come
see me because I have a waitlist and it's cash-based, like
they have to commit to come seeme, and some people, by the time
they get there, I think, aremaybe second guessing it, like
maybe this isn't that big of adeal.
You know, like I mean, yeah,I'm tired, but who isn't tired?
Yeah, I have brain fog, but whodoesn't have brain fog?
And one of the things as we gothrough it and we talk it all

(57:57):
out and we lay this out, I getto kind of say like this is not
normal and not acceptable.
I don't accept this for you.
You know, as someone who helpspeople be their healthiest self,
I don't accept this for you.
So you can still go and dowhatever you want with your life
, but I'm not okay with this andyou shouldn't be okay with this
either.

(58:17):
And that's where a lot ofpeople you know we bond because
they're saying like no one'sever said that to me before, no
one's ever made me feel that waybefore.
And again, I'm not doing itartificially or because it's
like a canned response.
I'm doing it because that's howI feel, like this is
unacceptable.
There's no like these arepeople who are not 80.

(58:38):
They're 25 and 35 and 45 and 55.
Like these are people whoshould be functional and they
should feel good and they shouldget to do whatever they want to
with their lives.
And I get to be one of thefirst people in their lives who
says I don't accept that.
And that's been very powerfulfor me and transformative for me

(58:59):
in my own health to then see itwork and be like, oh, I should
do that, that actually works, Ishould really do that.
So it's been a ride, it's beenincredible and I'm just really,
really honored, you know, to bea part of it, because what I was
building was, honestly, thetransition felt not selfish, but
like I needed a better balancefor myself.

(59:22):
And then I had family memberswho were not doing well
physically and, you know, neededsome support.
So I started doing moreresearch and started helping
them on the side and that's alot of where this was born and
then very quickly realized like,oh, we're not doing as well
serving patients as I thought.
I was pretty proud of theclinician that I was Patients I

(59:43):
think felt cared about when theycame to see me in my old clinic
, but I don't think they feltlike I necessarily gave them the
full time.
You know, if they said I wastired, I'd say you should see
your primary care doctor, youknow.
So now I get to witness thiskind of organic thing take shape
.
This clinic takes shape in away that's providing care for

(01:00:04):
women.
That's been really powerful forme and hopefully really
powerful for our patients.

Speaker 1 (01:00:09):
Totally and even like let's say that on like the
scale of fulfillment, being yourprevious roles in OBGYN and
like helping people here isabout the same.
Yeah, then also you get to seeI mean the joy of like building
something of your own.
Yeah, exactly which I mean issuch a unique feeling that a lot
of people don't ever like getto have yeah.
So it's amazing.
I mean a keep helping peoplelike that you've loved to do,

(01:00:31):
but then also create somethingspecial on top of it yeah,
exactly um, well, that's somegreat.
You're a great human.
I'm so grateful for all thatyou're doing because, yeah, like
I said, I mean two sisters, mom, girlfriend, I mean and it's
always hard to hear theirfrustrations or shortcomings of
medicine, especially women'smedicine.

Speaker 2 (01:00:51):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:00:52):
And realize that there are better solutions.
And I'll say it bettersolutions, yeah, and you don't
have to stick to the status quo.
I just quoted High SchoolMusical.
I didn't recognize it, it's okay, I'm younger than you, a little
younger than you, but so thankyou for giving women an option.
Oh, thanks.

(01:01:12):
So when you decided to jumpinto I mean again go out of your
professional background, ofwhat you've been trained as a
doctor into, I mean opening updoors that you knew existed but
hadn't maybe gone into or walkedin or through enough.

Speaker 2 (01:01:26):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:01:27):
I mean, what started that journey for you?

Speaker 2 (01:01:29):
For me it was more looking at options for career.
And I talked to a colleague andhe was like, oh, you should
check out integrative medicine,checked out integrative medicine
.
Someone else said no, no, no,do functional medicine.
So I started diving in anddecided to do functional
medicine training, quiteignorantly.
You know, I did not really likeI said, most people have this
passion, experience wherethey're diving in and I didn't.

(01:01:50):
But as I started learning aboutfunctional medicine and I
started getting mad about allthe things that I hadn't been
taught, at the same time I had asister who was really
struggling with pretty severefatigue and nerve pain and
having difficulty in her careerbecause she couldn't use her
hands and she needed to use herhands.

(01:02:10):
Really terrible brain fog, juststarting to feel like things
were crumbling, getting sick allthe time.
And I think a lot of people canidentify with this.
You know it's the type ofperson who's like if something
weird is going to happen, it'sgoing to happen to me, Like
that's how this family memberwas and I was totally baffled in
my conventional training oflike gosh, I don't know.
You should see a doctor, Likeyou should see some doctor, some

(01:02:34):
neurologist, and she did.
You know she had seen all ofthe doctors and, as I'm starting
to learn about functionalmedicine, I'm learning about gut
health and I'm learning aboutdetoxification systems and I'm
learning about mycotoxin illness, which is mold illness, and,
like you, this sounds like you.
Like all of this sounds likeyou Around.

(01:02:56):
The same time, my mom wasdiagnosed with dementia and
started learning a little bitmore about the intricacies that
go into that, other than justthe medication trials that we
have and how some people areactually reversing, and I wish I
had the really great story thatwas like so I fixed them, Like
they were way better.

(01:03:16):
I think hopefully I was able tohelp my, my sister, and help
she definitely is doing waybetter now than she was.
I think my mom's dementia isprobably too too far advanced at
this point and that that hasbeen something that has been
really lit a fire under me tosay like, okay, I didn't know
what I, I didn't know enoughthen when she was diagnosed.

(01:03:39):
Um, I know more now.
Um, still not an expert in indementia, but but learning all
the time and if there's anythingI can do to help other people
feel like I, I guess Iunderstand what it feels like to
have family members.
Sorry that's making me a littleemotional.
That was surprising Well.

Speaker 1 (01:04:00):
Mallory.
I want to end with the twoquestions I always ask every S
before we take off.
Number one if you could havesomeone on the Small Lake City
podcast and hear more abouttheir story and what they're up
to, who would you want to hearfrom?

Speaker 2 (01:04:10):
Oh, good question.
Hmm, I'm so in my healthcarespace.

Speaker 1 (01:04:15):
I mean if there's someone you want to double click
on there, or there's a millionways you could go.

Speaker 2 (01:04:21):
Yeah, I don't know if this is fair game because I
just had her on my podcast, butthere is a sex therapist named
Jordan Rulo, okay, and she isbrilliant and she talks a lot
about couples intimacy, and itit was.
She is so smart and full ofinformation and I think I, as

(01:04:41):
women's health, I just am drawnmore towards the taboo, I think.

Speaker 1 (01:04:43):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (01:04:44):
Because women are told not to talk about things
right.

Speaker 1 (01:04:46):
Yeah, yeah, it's very prevalent in our Utah culture.

Speaker 2 (01:04:49):
Yeah right, like that .
We don't talk about that kindof thing.
So, um, so, probably I'd leantowards the taboo someone doing
something that we should betalking more about, but don't.
And, and she comes to mind, sheis really a great therapist and
I'm glad we have her.

Speaker 1 (01:05:04):
Well, it's like I'm a big fan of, like Esther Perel,
yeah exactly it's like it'sfascinating.

Speaker 2 (01:05:09):
Well, it is because it's something that we're all
involved in.
We all have relationships ofsome sort or another.
We all have some sort ofsexuality or you know some.
So that's part of our being,that's part of our lives.
But for some people it's thisbig like question mark part of
our lives, so anything we can doto shed light on that.
But there's some cool people inSalt Lake doing really neat

(01:05:30):
stuff so it's fun to see.
And with your podcast ingeneral, it's just so fun to
hear the backstory becausethere's more to the person than
the business.
I have learned that.
Yeah, I'm sure, I'm sure.

Speaker 1 (01:05:44):
And then, lastly, if people want to find out more
information about Uplift Her,what's the best place to go?

Speaker 2 (01:05:49):
Yeah, so we're at Uplift Her.
What's the best place to go?
Yeah, so we're at Uplift ForHer everywhere.
So our website is Uplift ForHer.
It's spelled out F-O-R.
Uplift For Her.
And then our Instagram handleis the same.
Our podcast is the same UpliftFor Her.
And then Facebook too.

Speaker 1 (01:06:03):
Yeah, deal.
Yeah, check it out, go get someinformation.
If you're frustrated and wantanother point of view, or sick
of what you're currently doing,come to me yeah, thank you
thanks, awesome.
Thank you, mallory, drCraycroft yeah, pleasure, thank
you.

Speaker 2 (01:06:17):
Thanks for having me.